Dispensing package



April 23, 1963 J. z. KREzANosKl 3,086,647

DISPENSING PACKAGE Filed Sept. 20, 1961 INVENTOR.'

United States Patent O 3,086,647 DISPENSING PACKAGE Joseph Z. Krezanoski, Sunnyvale, Calif., assignor to Eames-Hind Laboratories, Inc., a corporation of Caliorma Filed Sept. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 139,539 1 Claim. (Cl. 20G-56) This invention relates to a package and more particularly relates to a sealed package suitable for dispensing a single dose or single usage amount of a chemical or biological compound. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the package may be hermetically sealed.

In many instances it is desirable to have a sterile, hermetically sealed package of material which can be opened, used once and discarded. Many agents are unstable in the presence of light, air and for moisture and all such agents are subject 4to contamination. Other agents which are liquids must be prevented from evaporating. For instance, in the examination of eyes, a uorescein solution is commonly used in certain types of eye examinations and it has heretofore been the practice either to take the solution from a relatively lange bottle, which is inconvenient and which involves the danger of contamination, orto package the material in small dosage containers for the liquid, which is relatively expensive. Other materials, such as enzymes -which are used in various analytical procedures, are unstable to air and light so that it is highly desirable to provide a single dosage package to protect the material.

In accordance with the present invention a sealed package is provided which may contain either a dry or a moist material, which package is inexpensive and easy to open. The package of the present invention avoids the l danger of contamination since one portion of the opened package serves as a handle, While the portion of the package which carries the active agent may serve as an applicator or a `carrier for the material enclosed in the package.

In the drawings forming part of this application:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a package embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a section on the lines 3 3 of FIGURE l.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view, similar to FIGURE 1, showing the package of FIGURE 1 after it has been opened and is ready for use.

FIGURE 5 is a reduced perspective view of another embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings by reference characters there is shown in FIGURES l-4 a package generally designated 6 which comprises layers 8 and 10 of a web such as a thin sheet-like plastic such as cellophane or polyethylene. Other materials such as paper, foil, paper coated with foil or paper coated or impregnated with sealing materials may be utilized. The two sheets 8 and 10 are of the Same gener-al configuration and are sealed at their marginal edges by suitable means such as an adhesive by heat sealing or by other means known to those skilled in the art such as high frequency electronic sealing. Within the two sheets is a strip or tongue 12 of an absorbent tape such as porous paper, porous plastic or cloth. The tape 12 is impregnated with some desirable material which may be either in the dry or moist form.

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' 2 The tape extends substantially to one end of the package as at 13 (which end is destined to become the handle after the package is opened, but terminates a substantial distance short of the opposite end as at 15). The sheets 8 and 10 are weakened near their centers by means of the slots 14 which are cut partially through the sheets. The upper sheet may contain a window 16 of a transparent material if the body of the container is made of a translucent or opaque material. The tape 12 is fastened at one end of the container by suitable means such as the adhesive 17. At the opposite end of the container, the tape is free of the walls of the package.

In order to use the package of the present invention it is only necessary to grasp the two ends and pull on the container whereupon the container will be severed at the weakened portion between slots 14 and will pull apart as is shown in FIGURE 4. Since the tape does not extend to one of the ends of Ithe package, pulling on the package does not exert pressure on the tape so that one end can readily be pulled od from the tape. The tape 12 then protrudes from the lower portion of the package 6 and portion 18 thus serves as a convenient holding member and the material on the tape 12 can be utilized Without danger of contaminating it.

In FIGURE 5 another embodiment of the invention is shown wherein the package 20 is made of two layers 22 and 24 of a iilm or web with a tape 26 therein as previously described. In this particular embodiment of the invention instead of the slot 14, the center portion of the container is weakened by means of the score line 28 so that by pulling on the ends of the container, the container will be severed along the score line exposing the medicated tape 26 for use as previously described. Obviously any weakening mechanism can be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 5, it will be noted that the window has been omitted. In many instances, it is desirable to provide an opaque package for use with materials which are not stable to light and which must be protected from the influence of light. If desired, the plastic may incorporate an opacitier to prevent entry of light. On the other hand, instead of providing a plastic which is opaque with a clear window, the entire package may be made of a clear plastic so that no window is necessary.

The package of the present invention may be used with great variety of chemical or lbiological agents either in the dry or the wet form, including, without limitation, reagents and indicator materials.

I claim:

A sealed package containing a single application of a substance capable of absorption by a porous material comprising:

(a) a rectangular applicator composed of an absorbent material impregnated with the substance to be applied, said rectangular. applicator being impregnated to an extent of about one-half of its length;

(b) an envelope completely surrounding said applicator, said envelope consisting of a pair of coextensive rectangular sheets of plastic material having relatively long parallel longitudinal margins, said sheets being sealed about their peripheries one to another and about said applicator whereby to seal the said applicator against contamination;

(c) adhesive means sealing said sheets to the one-half of said applicator which is not impregnated with said substance, said sheets enveloping but not being secured to said impregnated portion of said applicator, at least a portion of at least one of the said sheets being of a transparent material in the area immediately adjacent the unimpregnated portion of the said applicator whereby the impregnated portion is visible without removal of said envelope, said envelope being weakened by means comprising a pair of notches in said sheets, said notches extending from directly `opposed points on said longitudinal marginal edges of said sheets toward one another in an area intermediate the ends ot said applicator at a point Where said sheets are not secured to the said applicator 'to permit the package to be opened by pulling on the ends of the said sheets whereby one end of the package will remain secured to the said applicator and the other end of the said package will be pulled free of the said applicator to expose the impregnated portion thereof.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Graham Dec. 3, 1918 Salsberg Aug. 28, 195-1 

